Blood may be thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood
by storm in a teacup
Summary: Harvey's brother is back in town, and the two are keen to build up their relationship. But what happens when Harvey realizes that his brother has taken a liking to Donna? A liking that Donna may be keen to reciprocate? This fic is set around the beginning of season 2, sometime around when Hardman is back.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

**I own nothing, just borrowing for a little while.**

**Also got the idea for the title from a Garth Brooks song.**

**This is a fic centering on Harvey, Donna, and Harvey's younger brother - who takes a liking to Donna. Not 100% sure exactly where this story will go, so please R & R, thanks!  
**

* * *

**Blood may be thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood.**

Heaving a sigh of boredom and running a perfectly manicured hand over her forehead, Donna glanced at the clock for the thirty-seventh time. How could it only be 4.30? It felt like she'd been sitting here for days. Well, technically, she almost had been. They'd been so busy over the past couple of weeks she'd barely had time for anything other than work. Harvey was neck deep in a huge case that would mean a great deal to the firm if he won, and today was the decider - he'd been out most of the afternoon trying to close the client, gunning for a settlement. With him on the home stretch, she finally had time to breathe. Her thoughts wandered to the evening ahead, and she mentally dressed herself in the outfit that was set out in her bedroom, lingerie and all chosen, right down to the perfume that she'd wear. She had a date that evening, the first in a few weeks - not for lack of offers, of course, but there just hadn't been any time. But, while out for a few cocktails with her good friend Jules and some of her colleagues last Saturday, one of the guys had taken a bit of a shine to her, and she'd decided that yes, she would definitely make time for a date this week. She needed too. Some of the finer details were a bit hazy, she couldn't quite remember what he did – something to do with finance? – but he wasn't a lawyer, thank god - that's all she needed to know at this early stage. His name was… Hunter something, or Bentley. Something vaguely pretentious. But, he was good-looking in a manscaped kind of way, made a decent wage, possibly lacked a decent sense of humour, but whatever – those technicalities were irrelevant at this point, she was just looking forward to a few drinks, some male attention, and a good flirt.

She felt him before she saw him. Peeking up though hooded lids, she spotted Harvey sauntering down the corridor, associates shrinking out of his way. To the untrained eye, it looked like his regular arrogant walk and conceited expression, but Donna could tell from a mile away that this was a win. As he neared her, his smug grin was infectious, and she did her best to suppress a smile as he approached.

"Donna." He paused at her cubicle, resting an elbow on the desk.

"Harvey." She made an effort to finish typing the sentence she was on, before casually meeting his gaze.

They held the stare for a few seconds longer than necessary, then her eyes narrowed knowingly.

"Ohh… I recognize that look." she whispered surreptitiously. "That's the look that usually results in a new handbag for… yours truly!"

His grin broadened and his brow creased. "Please, Donna – you underestimate the size of this win."

Her eyes widened, mouth forming a small 'o'. "Really?! Does that mean… two…?" she mouthed the number and held up two fingers. Harvey pursed his lips and raised a brow in accession.

"If you play your cards right, could even be some matching heels." He threw a cheeky wink her way before heading into his office.

Donna loved the perks of working for Harvey.

It wasn't long before Jessica appeared, nodding politely to Donna as she entered Harvey's office to debrief him on the specifics of the afternoon. Donna listened in for the first ten minutes, but she could recite the details of this case in her sleep, and could guess exactly how the close had played out, so was soon bored, and wandered down to the associates lounge, where she bumped into Rachel refilling the coffee pot.

"So, good result for the dream team, huh?"

Donna shot Rachel a withering look. "Don't let Harvey hear you calling them that!"

Rachel laughed. "I know, I know. But Mike loves it, you should see how happy it makes him when I say that!"

Donna rolled her eyes. "It'd be hard not to see. That kid wears his emotions on his sleeve."

"Aww, but it's so cute, though."

"_Not_ the word at the top of my list…" Donna feigned a dry retch, then gave a conciliatory smile and accepted the mug of coffee that Rachel handed her. "Anyway, what's the plans tonight?"

"Well, actually, Mike and I are going out for a couple of drinks to celebrate the win, and the end of this damn case! I've barely seen him since this started, I can't wait. You want to come with?"

"As much as I love third-wheeling, I have a date tonight."

Rachel's eyes widened with delight. "Tell me more!"

Shrugging carelessly, Donna flicked her hair back. "You know, same old story. Some guy who could not resist this-" hands gesturing the length of her body. "Not surprising, of course. So, I'll allow him to buy me drinks and dinner, let him do his best to sweep me off my feet, see where the night takes us."

Clapping her hands a couple of times, Rachel shook her head in disbelief at her friend's easy self-confidence, a longing sigh escaping her lips. "I want to be you."

"I know, honey. Every woman does."

* * *

"Donna! Get in here!"

She'd barely taken a seat back at her desk, when he called out. The opening notes of a Miles Davis tune turned her in her chair, and she obligingly entered the office just as Harvey carefully closed the lid to the record player.

"I want you to celebrate with me."

"Hmm. Nothing to do with the fact that Mike has other plans this evening, I hope? You know I'm not very good at being second best." She warned him playfully.

"Really? I thought you'd be used it by now – we've worked together for so long, and we both know that I've always been number one." He joked, handing her a glass of scotch.

Donna crinkled her nose at him and accepted the drink, her fingers brushing against his, leaving her nerve endings singing. She took a small sip, the familiar burn a welcome relief in the aftermath of a crazy week.

"Congrats, Harvey. Big win for you today."

Acknowledging her comment with only a slight tilt of his head, and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, he turned and walked over to the window.

"What can I say? Just another day in the life of the best closer in the city."

"Huh. Well, you know what they say… behind every great closer…" she adjusted her position so her reflection in the window stood just over his shoulder, gave a resolute toss of her hair, and arched a jaunty brow. They stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into laughter.

He turned again to face her, shaking his head with a smile. "Donna. What the hell would I do without you?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't think you'd ever want to find out."

Taking a seat on the couch, he followed suit, aware of the seriousness that had darkened her expression.

"So. What are we going to do about Daniel Hardman?"

Harvey's brow furrowed as he stared into his glass.

"Tonight – nothing. We're going to drink this, then a couple more, listen to some music – if you're lucky, I may even let you choose a song – we'll go home, sleep like babies. Then tomorrow, tomorrow – I'll deal with Hardman."

Donna smiled. "You're gonna kick his ass."

"In layman's terms, yes."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Harvey transfixed on the city lights, lost in his head; Donna transfixed on Harvey, lost in him.

General conversation soon stirred up again, and they laughed together over a couple more pours of scotch, in the easy way that only years of proximity can accomplish.

"Alright, Donna. Let's get you home. You know how much you need your beauty sleep." Harvey finally pushed himself up off the couch.

"Harvey." Donna placated him. "_You _know that this kind of beauty can't be achieved by sleep alone. Genetics. I can't help it if I'm a goddess among mere mortals."

She headed out to collect her things, and caught sight of her phone flashing. Shit. Seven missed calls. Oh my god! Her date! Her hand flew to her mouth in shock. She had completely forgotten about him! And now it was a half after midnight, too late to call and apologize.

Harvey appeared at her side. "Ok, let's go. Ray's waiting."

She stared down at her phone for a few moments longer, taking a deep breath. "Uh, sure, yeah, let's go."

She followed Harvey to the elevators, still reeling. How could she do that? She had been looking forward to this date all day – how could it have been pushed right out of her head like that? But she knew how.

Harvey.

Harvey made time stand still for her. He appears, and everything else just disappears. Becomes background noise. As soon as she wondered why she didn't feel more guilt for standing the guy up, the answer was already in her head. Because she had been with Harvey, and that was always where she'd rather be, over any other option. As soon as this admittance surfaced, she pushed it right back down. She didn't need to think about this right now, about Harvey. It was always worse after she'd had a few drinks. She snuck a sideways glance at him in the back of the car. Head tilted back, smile dancing on his lips, forehead furrowed, he was trying to pick the answer to whatever music trivia question Ray had just challenged him with.

"Four! Four albums, six number ones." Harvey burst out, definitively.

Donna sighed quietly and turned her head to the window, biting down firmly on her knuckle, using the vine of pain to swing her back to reality. This was _not_ the time to start exploring the tangled mess of feelings that were linked to Harvey Specter. They were friends, good friends for sure, but just friends nonetheless, and that was that.

"And here we are." His voice slid through her reverie. "See you in the morning." The smile was accentuated in the intensity of his eyes, one which she couldn't quite return.

She thanked Ray, thanked Harvey, stepped out of the car, and sucked in the cold night air, sobering. She didn't look back, didn't dare. Entering her apartment, she mentally kicked herself for spending _another_ evening with Harvey, for not being able to say no to him, for not wanting to, and for standing up a perfectly nice and normal guy, not for the first time. A vigorous splash of water on her face at the kitchen sink was followed by downing two shots of whiskey in quick succession, then she sipped the third. It raised a fire in her belly, which was only just enough to distract her from the wild thrum of her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**A little apology to begin - this is a bit of a short, nothing chapter - moreso to set the scene for myself so that I can continue. Harvey's brother will appear in Chapter 3, if anyone is still around by then.**

* * *

Harvey stormed past, a determined anger swirling a storm around him. Donna immediately followed him into his office.

"He's trying to turn everyone against Jessica, after what he did! He's going to overturn her!" Harvey stormed, pacing in front of his desk.

Donna stepped right in. "Harvey." She managed to grab his forearm as he stalked past her. "Stop. Harvey, stop. You need to calm down. You need to think clearly. Stop." Her voice was soft and low, like a beacon, a lighthouse in a stormy sea. He halted immediately, focusing on only her, her fingers burning a homing signal into his arm, and he came right back to her.

"You need to stay calm, Harvey. You can't beat him if you let him get to you. Let's just take a breath for a second."

Her eyes stared right into his soul, and he let them. He stared right back into her, giving her everything. The flurry of emotions stilled inside him as her gaze steadied his breath.

He always wondered at this ability of hers. The way she could calm him right down, centre him, focus him. No one else could do this, and he knew he would never listen to anyone else. Harvey trusted himself, trusted his gut, trusted his own decisions every time. But then there was Donna. He trusted Donna implicitly, in every way, she would always guide him in the right direction, centre him.

He nodded. "You're right. Ok." He pulled away from her, and headed to the window.

"Now that he's back, I need to be one step ahead."

Donna nodded, careful of toeing the line between being there for Harvey, and being too much for Harvey in this moment. He needed to concentrate on his thought process.

"You can do it, Harv, you're always one step ahead."

She left his office silently, alighting back on her chair, concentrating on clearing her inbox.

Harvey settled himself, settled his head and cleared his emotions. This is how he worked best, no emotion, a clear path of logic and reason blazing a trail for his future direction. He took a seat at his desk and thought about Daniel Hardman, about Jessica, about the firm and the potential implications as these worlds collided. He began to feel sure of himself again, strong and definite, and most importantly, calm.

Naturally his gaze alighted on her, the only thing he had truly been able to count on for years. Somehow she kept him sane. He never voiced it to her, couldn't say it out loud, couldn't even start, in case he couldn't finish.

She could feel his eyes on her, boring a scalding trail down her spine. Every fibre in her being urged her to turn around, but she was stronger than that. Barely.

Luckily, Mike bowled up, coffee in his outstretched hands.  
"Thought you might need one of these, Donna!"

She accepted immediately, giving the kid a grateful smile. He caught on pretty quickly, that one.

"I'll kill you if I find out this isn't non-fat."

Mike held up his hands in surrender, and grinned, before bouncing into Harvey's office.

"Something weird is going on out there, and I'm not being dramatic." Mike launched himself onto the couch and looked up at Harvey, who was still lost in his thoughts. "Seriously, Harvey! Hardman has been giving out gifts and stuff, Harold has been singing his praises all morning all because he found a new branded biro on his desk! Even Louis is kind of cagey!"

Harvey frowned. "He's trying to step back into his managing partner role. Don't listen to anything he says to you."

Mike nodded, slightly uneasy to be caught in the middle of a power war. Jessica had always scared him, but she was obviously the one pulling Harvey's strings, and Mike would walk on water if Harvey asked him to. But now there was Daniel, and although Mike wasn't stupid, Daniel was doing a great job of positioning himself as an ally. In their few brief discussions, Daniel had already pointed out similarities between himself and the associate, and Mike couldn't help but wonder - was Daniel really that bad? How would he know if Harvey wouldn't admit to him the full story of what had happened before?

For the first time, Mike really questioned if he trusted his boss in the same way as he did from day one. Did Harvey really know what was best? Could he be a little blinded by the past? As soon as the thoughts arrived, Mike quashed them immediately. Harvey had put his ass on the line for him, and no matter what, Mike would follow wherever he was asked to go. Nothing left to consider.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for reading! **

**Now let's get on with the story...**

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing... sigh**

* * *

A sudden buzzing on her desk snapped her attention away from the case notes she was typing, and Donna swore under her breath when she saw the name flashing on the screen. She was going to have to explain about the date. Well, lack of. With a quick inhale and a forced smile, she chirped into the phone.

"Jules! How are you doing, hon?"

"So!" her friend launched straight in, tone faux-breezy. "-so I get to work yesterday morning bright and early for a meeting, you know, about finalizing the acquisition my team and I have been working our butts off on -"

"I'm sorry Jules!" blurted Donna, even though she knew she wasn't in any real trouble - she could practically hear her friend struggling to maintain a straight face through the phone.

"-and sitting in that meeting, I couldn't _quite_ understand why a certain baby-faced financial risk advisor with a penchant for sultry redheads was giving me the death stare from across the table-"

"Sorry Jules!"

"-and then he tells me that on closer analysis, he's discovered an 'area of potential risk', which would imply that the acquisition may not be as profitable as originally thought–"

"Sorry Jules!"

"-and that the whole thing will need to be pushed back while the financials are re-evaluated!"

"No…" muttered Donna, fingers pressed to her lips.

"Yes!" retorted Jules. "Luckily, he's an idiot, and is just blowing smoke, so I'll be going over his head to push this through anyway."

"I've never had to pull you up on your choice of men before, Donna Paulsen – but now that there has been a potential threat to my big fat bonus, I've got to step in! Seriously, what did you _do _to him?"

A bubble of laughter escaped the secretary's throat. "Nothing! Nothing at all! Which… is probably the issue… It's been crazy here the past couple of weeks, everything just got a bit insane – you know how I hold this place together – I got caught up, and my phone was on silent that night, and it just slipped my mind, Jules I swear… I just completely _forgot_!"

"You stood him up?! Ha! No wonder his ego was bruised." Jules paused a beat. "So, 'caught up in work', huh? You know, you really ought to tell that main man in your life to loosen his grip on you a little so that others can get a look-in."

Donna pursed her lips. She and Jules had known each other for a long time, all dark secrets and gory details included. The subject of Harvey frequently arose, mostly because Jules made no secret of her opinion that the best closer in the city was the reason Donna wasn't open to making relationships work with any other men, and never missed an opportunity to insinuate as much. Donna wasn't taking the bait today, however, and casually veered the conversation away from her boss.

"It's my new dating tactic. Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen, you know? So when I call him to reschedule, he'll be so grateful, he'll work even harder to… keep me happy."

"No! Do not reschedule. No more dating guys that I work with!"

"Technically, I haven't dated that one yet. Anyway, there hasn't been _that _many…"

"Really. There was Phil…"

"The grunter?!"

"And Jerry…"

"He was creepy! Those china dolls?!"

"And Rob-"

"Oh yeah. Rob was nice. Waaaay too nice."

"And-"

"Ok, ok! But you work at a really big firm that throws really great parties! Anyway, if that's the game we're playing, need I mention the date that you went on with Lou-"

Jules cut her off immediately. "We promised to never discuss that again!"

"I'm just saying, if you're gonna throw stones…"

"You know how badly I wanted those ballet tickets! They were like gold to me - I did what I had to do!"

Their laughter was interrupted by Donna's desk phone.

"Oh shit, I've got to go – I've got a call coming through from the front desk."

"Ok maneater, yoga Saturday morning?"

"It's a date!"

Jules snorted, "I guess I'll be going alone then!"

Donna hung up to the sound of her friend's peals of laughter, and quickly picked up her desk phone.

"Afternoon, Clive," she greeted the security guard silkily.

"Good afternoon, Ms Paulsen, I've got a gentleman down here who is insisting on seeing Mr Specter."

"Harvey's not expecting anyone this afternoon, Clive."

"I know, Ms Paulsen – but I think… could you maybe come down and verify that he is who he says he is?"

A few minutes later, Clive watched on bemused, as the normally poised and unflappable Donna Paulsen let out a giddy squeal as she was swept up into a bear hug by the visitor in the lobby, her Louboutins leaving the marble floor.

Immersed in the file in front of him, Harvey absentmindedly rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his forehead. He hated when Jessica threw tricky cases his way at the last minute, relying on his pit bull technique to shake out a win in the final hour. He preferred when things were on his own terms, but his adaptability was one of the attributes that made him such a great closer. A strategy on how to progress with this particular case was beginning to take shape, when he became vaguely aware of a silhouette in his doorway.

"Not now, Donna. I just need to finish this."

"I think you're gonna want to take this meeting."

Harvey glanced up as a man clad in jeans and a light blue shirt button down shirt, sleeves rolled up casually, stepped forward from behind Donna, a hand grazing her back in thanks.

"Holy shit!" Harvey jumped up, chair scooting backwards. "Marc, what the…?!" He strode to the man standing at his door, and the two came together in a rough hug, back slapping and all.

"I told you." beamed Donna, retreating to her cubicle.

The men pulled back, mirroring grins on their faces. Harvey's smile was wide with incredulity and delight, despite the icy finger that always hooked him in the gut for a brief second when he hadn't seen his younger brother in a while. It never failed to catch him by surprise, how like _her_ he was - the same colouring, thick sandy hair, irish-green eyes that danced with amusement, the easy lopsided grin that was always accompanied by a dimpled left cheek.

"How you doing, Harv?"

Harvey snapped back to the present. "Good to see you, little bro! What are you doing here?"

"I've always had a suspicion that you've been faking the high-flying defence attorney thing, so I wanted to drop in unannounced and catch you in your janitor's uniform. Hmm…" Marcus joked, glancing appreciatively around the spacious office, and at Harvey's expensive suit. "I see that you've taken your charade to a whole other level!"

Harvey laughed. "I only just managed to shove my mop and bucket into the broom cupboard before you arrived. Damn, I can't believe you're here! How long has it been-?" The brothers both paused to think.

Harvey snapped his fingers. "Montreal!"

"Oh yeah! Last summer? No, the one before…"

"You and Liv flew over and met me and Donna at the Jazz Festival!"

"We did. That was a great trip." said Marcus, fondly.

"And then you disappear back to Edinburgh, and I hear nothing from you for months at a time. Not even a postcard." Harvey sighed with mock-wistfulness.

"I was hoping this would ease some of the pain." Marcus proffered a bottle of Glenfiddich 40 year old that he'd been holding, Harvey's brows lifted, impressed.

"Ok! Well... who really wants a few stupid postcards anyway?!"

He made to sit down, gesturing for Marcus to take a seat on the couch opposite.

"So?" he prompted, hands spread. "Don't tell me you got deported."

Marcus laughed. "Something like that! All that research we were working on around athletic burnout and self-determination has finally wrapped up - going to publication as we speak – so my time in Edinburgh is officially over."

"God, three years already?!"

"I know! Luckily, I got offered a job in the sports science department at NYU. They've managed to get some decent funding for a research project on motivation and cohesion in professional sports teams, so I'll be involved in that for the foreseeable future. So I'm back in town!"

Harvey nodded, pleased. "Good stuff, Marcus. Just remember who paid for your postgrad study when season tickets get thrown your way."

"Doesn't look like you'd need my help getting any sports tickets!" replied Marcus, eyeing up the basketballs lining the windowsill. "Anyway, I won't keep you - I just thought I'd drop by and let you know in person that you're gonna be seeing this pretty face around a lot more often now, you know, give you something to look forward to. I'll let you get back to your lawyering, I don't want Jessica on my case."

Harvey smirked. "Don't let the name on the door fool you. I run this place, you know. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Seriously? It's only 2pm! I'll come back when you're done for the day."

"Hey, I haven't seen you in God knows how long, and you show up on my doorstep out of the blue – do you think I'm gonna let you walk away without collecting on all those beers you owe me from last time? Anyway, I wanna see if any of your sports psych has helped you become a better pool player yet. You were woeful last time."

Marcus snorted. "Please. I let you win last time. Do you know what a downer you are to hang out with when you lose? It's just easier to let you win and keep you happy."

"I wouldn't know what I'd be like when I lose - because I never lose. And you know what? I'm actually bored of winning. A loss might be a nice change for me, a breath of fresh air. So please, Marcus, put some effort in this time, and let me have that fresh air." goaded Harvey.

The brothers stared at each other for a moment, wearing matching amused gazes, both biting back smiles at how easy they slid back into the familiar ribbing.

"Bring it on!"

"Ok, I'll just tell Donna to clear my-"

"Already done, everything rescheduled." called Donna from her desk. "Enjoy your fresh air!"

Mike skidded up to Harvey's office door just as the brothers were exiting.

"Harvey! Hey Harvey, I found something that we can use on the Portman case!"

"Not now, Mike."

"But it's really good! You're gonna wanna see this!" Mike whined.

"Down, boy." Harvey headed for the elevators.

Marcus shook his head, and clapped a reassuring hand on Mike's shoulder, heading into full bluff mode. What name had Harvey just used? "Mike, right? Wow, Harvey's told me so much about you, says you're the best he's seen in ages. Good work, man, keep it up!"

"He said that?!" Mike flushed excitedly.

Marcus shrugged noncommittally, shot a winning grin at Donna, and headed after his brother.

"Did he really say that?" Mike scrambled to Donna's desk, where she was staring at the retreating forms of the brothers, a fond smile tugging at her lips.

"Sure hon." She threw him a sympathetic glance. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Donna allowed Mike a few moments to daydream, before snapping her fingers in his face. "Back to reality, space cadet."

He quickly focused his eyes back on the secretary.

"So, who was that, anyway?"

"That? That was Harvey Junior. Although you wouldn't get away with calling him that, so it's Marcus Specter to you."

Mike's eyebrows shot up. "Harvey's brother? Really? What's he doing here?"

"Back in town." Donna carried on typing.

"Well… where… where are they going…?"

"Off to have some man-time." She caught the note of dejection in Mike's voice. "Aww, have those big, mean boys gone and left you out? Don't worry Mikey, I'll make sure they invite you on their play-date next time."

Mike scowled at her. "I… I… it's just that if I knew Harvey would be gone for the afternoon, then I wouldn't have busted my ass this morning trying to pull something up for Portman. That's all."

Donna nodded in mock agreement. "Yep, uh-huh. Run along now, pup."

* * *

With three games of pool under their belts, the brothers laid claim on a table in a quiet corner of the bar, Marcus setting a drink in front of Harvey.

Harvey sighed as he took a sip. "Just gets so boring…" he trailed off, baiting his brother.

"I told you, Harv, I let you win. I'm a people-pleaser. Just want to keep you happy."

"I _tried_ to lose!" Harvey threw his hands up in complacency. "But I'm just so damned good at this game."

Marcus laughed, glad to see that his brother hadn't lost any of his facetious arrogance.

"So, how's things at Pearson Hardman? What's been going on?"

Harvey scrubbed a palm to his eye, and filled Marcus in on the return of Hardman and some of the drama at work. Whether it was his brother's easy manner, his psych background, or just the fact that they knew each other so well, Harvey always found himself able to speak candidly to Marcus, and it was a welcome relief to be able to let his defenses down for a while.

Marcus signaled for another round. "And how's Donna? Hasn't murdered you yet, I see?"

"Can't be long now til she does." smiled Harvey.

"Can't believe she's put up with you for this long."

"Hey, it's no walk in the park with her, either. She's nosy as hell, and my credit card takes an absolute beating just to keep her happy." grumbled Harvey, good-naturedly.

"I thought she would've been out of there by now, married, couple of kids." mused Marcus.

"Nope, none of the above, not yet."

"So she's still married to the job then."

"I don't ask her to be."

"Yeah, but you don't tell her not to be, either." replied Marcus, softly.

Harvey shot his brother a measured look, but decided the comment wasn't meant as a challenge. "She loves her job, and she's got it pretty good there. Could be worse, she could be stuck with Louis."

Marcus could see Harvey's guard beginning to rise, and knew that the subject of Donna was no longer up for discussion today.

"And what about that eager little kid you fobbed off when we were leaving?"

"Ah, my green little associate, Mike."

"God, that poor kid – to have you as a teacher!"

"I'm an amazing teacher."

Marcus raised his brows. "You're not too generous with encouragement, though. I had to give him a little boost and tell him that you thought he was great."

"What?" exclaimed Harvey. "Don't tell me that you've gone and ruined all my hard work by praising him!"

"Positive reinforcement, Harvey. Imagine how much great work you'd get out of him if you were actually nice to him!"

"No way." Harvey shook his head. "He'd become complacent and slack off, he'd get comfortable, and comfortable equals lazy. Gotta keep him on his toes!"

"Ah, you were always partial to the tough love approach."

Harvey shrugged. "Can't be that bad, look at you, you turned out ok."

"Despite the years I agonised trying to figure out if you even liked me-"

"I didn't, for the record. Still deciding."

Marcus lightly socked his smirking brother in the arm. "Ha. Say what you like bro, but I know you well enough to read your actions, not listen to your words."

Harvey's expression turned quizzical. "Don't start analyzing me."

Marcus shrugged, an amused smile on his face. "No analysis needed. It's so obvious. Case in point: Remember when I was getting bullied at school, and I would come home crying like a bitch to you, and you'd just tell me to harden up, you'd call me names, not an ounce of sympathy. And then the bullying stops. I find out that you had paid a visit to the kid's father, and threatened him-"

"I did _not_ threaten him."

"Well, whatever went on there, that kid laid off me from then on. Yet you always denied having anything to do with it, and just kept calling me a baby."

"I don't like to brag about my pro bono work."

"You're an actions guy, Harvey. Wait til your associate figures out that under that tough exterior, you're just a big softie. He'll have a field day." teased Marcus, and then promptly found himself on the receiving end of a punch in the arm.

"Don't push it, junior. Now go get another round before I make some calls and set that bully back on to you."

Harvey shook his head to himself as Marcus obliged and headed to the bar. He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed his brother's company. Although they'd slipped in and out of touch over the past couple of years, now that Marcus was back in town, Harvey decided to make a real effort to make time for him. He wanted to stay close to his little brother – after all, Marcus was about the only family that Harvey had left.


End file.
